Another day, another iPhone 13 leak: a new image claims to depict our first proper look at the redesigned notch that may feature on the iPhone 13. The leak comes after the February Apple patent (spotted by Apple Insider) seemed to be paving the way for a notchless iPhone 13.
As first reported by MacRumors, Greek repair company iRepair obtained and shared this image of what it claims are the front glass panels for the iPhone 13 Mini, iPhone 13 and iPhone 13 Pro, and iPhone 13 Pro Max. In this alleged photo of the front glass panels for the iPhone 13 models – which feature the same three 5.4-in, 6.1-in, and 6.7-in display sizes as the iPhone 12 lineup – the notch on each iPhone is visibly smaller and the earpiece speaker has been relocated above it, into the top bezel. It’s not a new idea – that particular redesign was first rumoured for iPhone 12 models last year but failed to come to fruition.
How credible is the leak? Hard to say. It’s a great depiction of what a smaller notch on an iPhone design could look like but, as with all leaks, it’s best to treat it with a pinch of your preferred seasoning. Since it’s a redesign that has been rumoured before, this image could of course show mock-ups created using leaked ideas for last year’s iPhone 12.
However, evidence that the iPhone 13 will feature a smaller notch is beginning to pile up. In his March 2021 investor note, trusted analyst Ming-Chi Kuo tipped the iPhone 13 for “a reduced notch area”, and went on to say that Apple won’t adopt a ‘pin hole’ selfie camera until 2022 at the earliest.
And here’s another recent concept from LetsGoDigitalthat imagines what how a “reduced notch” could look. For now, we wait…
MORE:
See our dedicated pageiPhone 13: release date, price, leaks and all of the news
Thinking of going Android? See best Android phones 2021: Google-powered smarties for budgets big and small
Which iPhone is the best? See best iPhones 2021: the best budget and premium iPhones
Apple’s rumoured A14X chip could level up the performance of the next-generation iPad Pro, reports 9to5Mac.
A reference to the long-awaited processor, which is said to be “blisteringly fast”, was spotted in today’s iOS 14.5 beta release. The developer version of Apple’s next operating system mentions a chip named “13G”. But since no such chip exists, the mysterious “13G” is thought to refer to the A14X in disguise.
The tip seems to confirm a recent Bloomberg report, which claims the iPad Pro 2021 will boast “an updated processor that is on par with the faster M1 chip” found in the company’s current MacBook laptops.
If the latest leak checks out, it suggests the A14X – and therefore the next iPad Pro – could be unveiled sooner rather than later.
As it stands, the iPad Pro 2021 is tipped to launch next month. We’re expecting to see two versions, with the larger, 12.9-inch model boasting a Mini LED display. And with the A14X chip under the bonnet, there should be more than enough oomph to show off Mini LED’s LCD-beating contrast and colour reproduction.
The A14X chip is said to use a compact “System-on-Chip” design. There’s even been a leaked speed test by Geekbench that suggests the new chip is faster than the Intel Core i9 processor in the 2020 MacBook Pro (via AppleInsider).
Sounds impressive, but we’ll keep you up to date with all the latest leaks in the run up to Apple’s next launch event. We’re due a bumper crop of Apple devices this year, including the iPad Pro 2021, AirPods 3 wireless earbuds, AirPods Pro 2 noise-cancelling buds, iPhone 13 and new Apple TV.
MORE:
Read our in-depth review of the Apple iPad (2020)
Find the perfect Apple tablet for you: best iPads
Apple’s first over-ear headphones rated: AirPods Max
Sustainable smartphone manufacturer Fairphone has gotten Google’s certification for its Android 9 update for the Fairphone 2. Getting certification for a nearly three-year-old version of Android doesn’t sound that impressive until you realize that it’s running on a phone originally released five years ago when it ran Android 5. The roll-out of the software starts today, and will continue until April 18th, Fairphone says.
It’s a length of support that’s basically unheard of among Android phone manufacturers. Although Fairphone 2 owners aren’t going to be able to enjoy the latest Android 11 features, the more important thing is that they’re running a version of Android that’s still officially supported. Google’s latest Android security bulletin from this month includes multiple fixes for security issues in Android 9.
The Fairphone 2’s Android 9 update has been in the works for a while and was released in beta way back in June 2020. At the time, Fairphone outlined the challenges it had in trying to support such an old phone, including the fact that Qualcomm no longer provides support for the processor inside the device, a Snapdragon 801, which originally announced back in 2014.
“To get Google certification for Android 9 for Fairphone 2 just as we hit five years of support for the smartphone is a huge achievement for Fairphone,” says CEO of Fairphone Eva Gouwens. “In order to get certification, we had to pass approximately 477,000 Google tests.”
“We want to show the industry that this kind of thing is possible, that a smartphone doesn’t have to be discarded after 2-3 years, we can prolong it’s lifespan,” the CEO added.
The only other smartphone manufacturer that offers a similar length of support for its devices is Apple, which last year released iOS 14, its latest phone OS, for its 2015 iPhone 6S. Android manufacturers, while behind Apple, are improving. Samsung now offers four years of security updates for its recent Galaxy devices, while Google offers three years of updates for its Pixel phones, and OnePlus says it plans to release Android 11 for its 2018 OnePlus 6 and 6T.
The Fairphone 2’s update to Android 9 this long after release bodes well for the company’s long-term support of its more recent Fairphone 3 and 3 Plus phones. The company says the phones should be updated to Android 11 in the second half of this year, with “one more major Android upgrade” coming thereafter. Software support and spare parts availability is set to continue until 2024.
Nintendo has a new tool that lets show off your Animal Crossing: New Horizons island with a poster or even a trailer. While you’ve always been able to take screenshots and video clips from the game using the Switch’s built-in tools and share those with your friends and on social media, the new Island Tour Creator lets you add some Animal Crossing-themed flair to what you’ve captured.
Nintendo made an example island tour video in this tweet. It includes a voiceover and even New Horizons’ iconic theme song, and the trailers you make will have them, too, which I thought was a nice touch.
And here’s a poster I made for my island, Hoopla:
To use the Island Tour Creator, which only works on mobile, visit this link on your smartphone. From there, you’ll be asked to log in to your Nintendo account, and after a brief chat with Tom Nook, you’ll be able to pick between making a poster or a trailer.
You can use media taken from the game that you’ve saved to your phone or posted to Twitter, and both the poster- and trailer-making tools have lots of customization options. I really wish you could use the Island Tour Creator in-game in some way, though, since getting screenshots and video from my Switch to my iPhone is a bit of a hassle. But once I had everything I wanted saved on my phone, using the tool was straightforward.
The Island Tour Creator interface.
Now that people have had their hands on New Horizons for more than a year, I’m looking forward to seeing the virtual tours and posters people create to show off their islands.
(Pocket-lint) – OnePlus started off as that limited, small batch phone-maker that only insiders knew about, before growing into a proper big-time brand. And yet, despite being available through proper partner carriers and in real stores, it’s still not a company you’d consider hugely mainstream. It certainly doesn’t have that mindshare that Apple and Samsung have enjoyed for years.
Counting all the ‘T’ versions, however, we’re now into the 13th generation OnePlus flagship. And in all of those generations it’s always nailed the speed, performance and fluidity. The cameras, however, have always raised questions, never quite delivering to the same degree as the competition. To try and conquer this final frontier OnePlus has brought in some outside help from a partnership with Hasselblad.
So does the OnePlus 9 Pro, Hasselblad riposte at the ready, succeed in flying us to the moon and back?
So shiny
Finishes: Morning Mist, Forest Green, Stellar Black
Dimensions: 163.2 x 73.6 x 8.7mm / Weight: 197g
IP68 water- and dust-resistant rating
Stereo speakers
OnePlus has three different finishes for the OnePlus 9 Pro. We’ve been using the silver coloured Morning Mist version, which is oh so shiny. At least, the bottom third of the back is. It’s reflective enough that you can see your face in it (which also makes photographing it a real pain – not that this would be a concern to 99 per cent of the people who buy one).
This reflective surface subtly gradients into a more misty, foggy look at the top. The surface of the glass on the outside is glossy and slippery, so attracts fingerprints like nobody’s business. All in all meaning you may just want to use the case, or pick up the frosted glass Forest Green variant instead.
Still, there’s plenty to like about the 9 Pro’s design. For one, the camera housing has a look about it that says the designers really cared about how it turned out. It’s not just a characterless rectangle stuck onto the back. It’s colour-matched to the back and each of the two main cameras has a metallic ring around the lens, making it stand out against the background. It’ll certainly make it stand out from the crowd.
The rest of the design is very familiar for anyone who’s used a OnePlus phone over the past year. The glass curves on the back towards the edges, making an otherwise quite large phone feel a bit more comfortable than it would if it were completely flat and square.
It’s not the lightest phone around, but in its size category, squeezing in below 200 grams is a good thing. It makes it perfectly bearable to use day in day out. Plus, all the buttons being within easy thumb reach means there’s not too much over-stretching going on to locate the alert slider or the volume rocker.
Pocket-lint
While we’re on the subject of practicality, the Pro has IP68 rating against water and dust ingress. So when this slippery fish does inevitably slip out of your hand into a sink full of water, it won’t get damaged (well, not from the water anyway!).
Unlike the standard ‘non-Pro’ version, the OnePlus 9 Pro doesn’t have a completely flat panel, but the curves on the screen are definitely smaller than in previous iterations. That does mean the phone feels a bit chunkier than 7 Pro from two years ago, but it means it’s less prone to accidental touches. Plus, the bezels are really skinny, giving an almost edge-to-edge screen with only a neat little selfie camera punching its way through the top corner.
Display and software
6.7-inch AMOLED display
QHD+ resolution (1440 x 3216 pixels; 525ppi)
Adaptive frame rate up to 120Hz
Oxygen OS 11 (over Android 11)
It’s not just in physical button placement where OnePlus has attempted to make its large phone comfortable to use. The software, Oxygen OS, went through a massive refresh for its Android 11-based version – which first launched on the OnePlus 8T. This update didn’t just radically change the entire look and feel of the previously Google stock-like experience, it was designed so that the bits you need to reach with your thumb are easy to get to. Buttons and controls are shifted down, so you don’t have to awkwardly stretch across to the top corner.
The thing that works against this somewhat is that OnePlus has fewer of its own apps than it used to. It’s gone all-in with Google, so apps like Messages and the Phone app are Google; similarly, as we saw with the 8T in 2020, the Shelf that used to live on the left of the Home Screen has been replaced by Google’s Discover feed.
None of these moves are bad, as Google’s Discover is far more useful and more relevant than Shelf. That in itself hasn’t disappeared completely, though, as you can get to it by swiping down on the Home Screen. It could be useful for things like getting quick access to favourite contacts, or remembering where you parked the car. We didn’t find it all that useful, so we just changed the setting so that a swipe on the Home Screen dropped down notifications instead.
As for the screen, it’s one of the best available on the market. It’s a 6.7-inch AMOLED panel that has a top refresh rate of 120Hz, meaning it cycles through 120 refreshes per second to give the sense of smoothness.
Like Samsung’s latest flagships – the Galaxy S21 Ultra at the top of the stack – the OnePlus also has adaptive refresh rate capabilities. Here, however it can go all the way down to just 1Hz when it detects a static page, which will help save battery life. It also means it’s pretty much identical to the screen on the Oppo Find X3 Pro.
It’s really bright and vivid, and – once you’ve enabled its maximum sharpness within the settings – it’s crisp to the eyes too. One clever little feature actually enables you to toggle on a battery saver mode when you choose the QHD+ resolution, which means the screen can switch to a lower resolution if it’s appropriate to do so.
As usual, there are plenty of additional features, such as the ability to tune the appearance to your preferences: be that dark mode for night time, comfort tone for automatically adjusting the white balance based on the ambient light, or reading mode for, um, you guessed it, reading.
On the whole, it’s a mighty fine display. Colours pop, bright areas are almost searing, and animations are smooth. There’s perhaps a bit too much contrast, while auto-brightness dims the output a bit much – as to not retain balance of highlights, shadows and colours – but most of the time we were impressed by it.
For those who want it there’s plenty of customisability too. The display settings menu lets you adjust the overall look of the screen, making it more or less vibrant and adjusting colours and white balance.
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So to the all-important cameras. Both the primary and ultra-wide cameras use high-end Sony sensors – which is OnePlus showing off that it’s sourcing the best core kit for the job. For the most part, these sensors deliver good pictures.
The primary sensor looks like it’s had the most love from Hasselblad’s partnership, delivering natural-looking colours with good detail. Likewise, the ultra-wide sensor can take great pictures – and that’s no surprise given it’s the same sensor used by the Oppo Find X3 Pro in both of its two main cameras.
In good light you’ll get sharp mostly noise-free pictures, while the freeform ultra-wide lens will ensure you don’t get lots of curving and distortion at the edges. In fact, it’s very level and doesn’t suffer from that fish-eye effect you sometimes see from such lenses. It’s not as good in low-light situations as the primary sensor, neither is perfect once light levels drop. You’ll start to see image noise introduced when it gets a bit darker, particularly in greys and blues in any shadows.
The only inescapable problem isn’t with either camera individually. It’s when you compare them to each other. At some points it looks like results are from two different phones. Not in terms of angle of view, as that’s inevitable, but with the final aesthetic. The ultra-wide often boosts warmth and saturation to give a really vivid (almost more orange feel), while the primary lens delivers a more neutral, cooler image where blues are more standout.
You can see this difference when switching to Macro mode – which automatically switches to the ultra-wide sensor to perform the close-up shot – as well as when you shoot at night time using the Nightscape mode.
Nighstscape mode seems to have improved from previous generations of OnePlus phones, though, with the 9 Pro able to draw in decent light. We did sometimes struggle to get results looking sharp though, with finer details and edges blurring – not an out-of-focus blur, more like a motion blur as if the camera’s optical stabilisation can’t quite compensate for hand-shake enough.
It wasn’t the only time the phone’s camera struggled with detail either. Using the telephoto zoom lens – which is 3.3x that of the main camera, and can reach up to 30x digitally – we found that detail simply lacked. It’s not a great optical zoom.
Pocket-lint
: Ultra-wideUltra-wide
If you scroll through the gallery above – which cycles through the cameras at ultra-wide, 1x, 3.3x, 5x, 10x and 30x – you’ll see how the tree branches in the 3.3x shot turn into a weird-looking mush. And once you zoom past 3.3x the detail becomes increasingly ropey with the images at the top end looking more like an oil painting than a photograph.
As for macro mode, that’s pretty strong in good light. Details are sharp and in-focus, while the background blur adds depth and doesn’t suffer from unnatural and nauseating bokeh like some dedicated macro lenses do. That’s likely down to the fact the OnePlus 9 Pro is using the ultra-wide sensor, rather than have a poor low-resolution macro camera.
On the whole, then, the 9 Pro’s cameras are a bit of a mixed bag. It performs well, but the difference in colour balance between the primary and ultra-wide is confusing, especially given OnePlus’ insistence on using Hasselblad’s ‘strict’ tuning standards. The optical zoom lens is quite poor when it comes to detail, and night mode suffers a little with motion blur.
The primary lens is great for the most part, but we’d just love to see that consistency between the different lenses. It’d turn this system into one that truly competes with the market leaders. The hardware is obviously there, we just need to see attention to detail on balance still.
Speed, I am speed
Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 platform, 5G connectivity
RAM: 8GB/12GB LPDDR5
Storage: 128GB/256GB (UFS3.1)
4,500mAh battery (2x 2250mAh cells)
Warp Charge 65T flash charging (1-100% in 28 minutes)
Warp Charge 50 wireless charging (1-100% in 43 minutes)
If there’s one thing you can virtually guarantee from OnePlus when it comes to its flagship phones: they’re all fast and fluid. For years the company has used whichever is Qualcomm’s latest top-tier processor. For 2021 that’s the Snapdragon 888.
In all areas, the OnePlus 9 Pro performs like a proper flagship should. It’s fast and smooth, loading any games and apps without stopping to think about it. We had no instances of stutter or delay. Part of that is also down to the screen’s refresh rate, but also its touch sampling rate – which can read your fingers taps and swipes at a rate of 240 times per second. The animation on screen responds virtually immediately, making it feel nimble and instant.
Even simple and mundane tasks like refreshing a Twitter feed or loading a web page is hassle-free. Plus, if you live in an area with 5G signal, you get that goodness too, for speedy cellular downloads.
During our testing there were moments where – after an hour or so of gaming – the phone became a little warm, but it didn’t feel uncomfortable. That’s likely down to having an efficient vapour chamber and graphite-based cooling system inside, making this the most non-gamer gamer phone on the market.
As for battery life, with the screen cranked up to its highest resolution and frame rate settings, the 4500mAh capacity is more than capable of pushing through a full day. Even on quieter ones, however, we never quite got the sense it’d make it through two full days.
On our heavier days with a three or more hours of screen time, we got to bed with somewhere around the 30 per cent mark left over. Here’s the thing though: battery anxiety is never an issue because when it comes to charging few phones compare to the OnePlus 9 Pro.
If you use the included 65W wired charger, you can get the battery from dead to 100 per cent in just 28 minutes. That’s a full charge in less than half an hour, which is mind-boggling. Plug the phone in for 10 minutes and that’ll provide enough to get you through a good few hours.
But there’s more: it charges fast wirelessly too. Using OnePlus’ latest Warp Charge Wireless stand (an optional extra, at your expense), you can get a full charge in 43 minutes. Of course, if it’s by your bed and you charge overnight you don’t need those speeds, but it can be programmed to go into bedtime mode which charges slower and, crucially, quieter. The fan it uses to keep itself cool during the faster charging speeds is shut off to allow you to get to sleep.
The Warp Charge Wireless is so quick that we’d often just leave the 9 Pro off charge at night, then put it on the stand while getting ready in the morning. It’s a bit of a game-changer.
It’s worth noting that – even though it charges quickly – OnePlus has kept its battery optimisation features in play, which ensure the device’s battery isn’t harmed by such speedy refills. It learns your charging routine and does the first chunk of charging quickly, before leaving it and then finishing the charge right before you wake up in the morning – which is good for battery health and longevity over an extended period of time.
Verdict
The OnePlus 9 Pro attemps to address the series’ historically biggest issue: the cameras. However, even with support from Hasselblad, it still doesn’t quite hit the mark in that regard. But the core of the phone impresses, with fast wireless charging a truly brilliant feature, and the display being top notch too.
While it’s possible to get great photos from the 9 Pro’s cameras, the imbalance of colour between the two main sensors – with photos often looking like they’ve come from two different phones – and the poor results from the telephoto zoom just don’t quite add up to what we’d expect. More hassle than Hasselblad, eh?
It’s also worth pointing out that the 9 Pro’s price has crept higher still, edging ever closer to the four-figure mark and, in so doing, sitting closer to other premium flagship competitors. That does mean it’s still more affordable than some of the other top tier phones out there, but it’s no longer the instant buy the series once was.
Overall, the OnePlus 9 Pro continues to deliver on the series’ well-established strengths. Its fast and fluid, has a cracking screen, mind-boggling impressive fast-charging, and all for a price that undercuts the established elite. But it continues the series’ ongoing weaknesses too, as those cameras still just aren’t class-leading.
Also consider
Oppo Find X3 Pro
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In a lot of ways, the Oppo is very similar to the 9 Pro, offering similar hardware in terms of screen, battery size, charging and processing power. Where it differs is with a more consistent camera experience and a more refined designed.
Read our review
Samsung Galaxy S21+
squirrel_widget_3816733
Pricing isn’t all that much between Samsung’s S21+ and OnePlus’ latest top tier phone. It may have a plastic back, but its performance is strong in all the important ways. The cameras are a tad disappointing however.
Apple’s long-rumored mixed reality headset could weigh less than 150 grams, which would make it much lighter than many other headsets on the market, according to a new research note from Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo seen by 9to5Mac. That lighter weight might mean Apple’s headset could be easier to wear for long periods of time.
A weight of 150 grams would make Apple’s headset lighter than the Oculus Quest 2 (503 grams), Microsoft’s HoloLens 2 (645 grams), and the Valve Index (809 grams). It would be lighter than Google’s Daydream View, a fabric VR headset designed to hold your phone, which weighed 220 grams. The headset could even be lighter than your iPhone, given that the standard iPhone 12 weighs 164 grams.
As attractively light as this headset sounds, though, it might be a while until we get to try it out for ourselves. Bloomberg reported in January that the device, which may have both virtual reality and augmented reality features, won’t launch until at least 2022. The Information backed that up in February by reporting that the device could ship “as early as next year.” The Information also had a drawing of what the headset could look like, including mesh fabric in the front and Apple Watch-style bands in the back, and I could see how the device could be very light if made with those materials.
Image: The Information
The headset, codenamed “N301,” may also have 8K displays, eye-tracking technology, and more than a dozen cameras to both track your hand movements and capture footage that can be displayed inside the headset, according to The Information. And in his new research note, Kuo reported that the device will have plastic lenses, an ultra-short focal length, and Micro-OLED displays.
But the headset may not be cheap: Apple has apparently discussed pricing the headset at around $3,000, The Information reported. That would make it much more expensive than the $299 Oculus Quest 2 but more affordable than the $3,500 HoloLens 2.
Apple’s device has already hit several development challenges, Bloomberg reported, and given how far out the rumored headset is, there’s always a possibility that details about the device could change. However, Apple recently moved Dan Riccio, its former hardware chief, into a role reportedly overseeing Apple’s AR and VR devices, which could signal the company’s commitment to launching a device sooner rather than later.
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1More has absolutely flooded the true wireless earbud market, and it’s confident enough in its new ComfoBuds Pro noise-canceling earbuds to proclaim them as superior to the AirPods Pro — for a fraction of the price. They slot in between the company’s flagship True Wireless ANC earbuds ($200) and less expensive options like the $50 PistonsBuds and the standard ComfoBuds, the latter of which has an open-style design. 1More says with the Pro model, it’s “sure to bring the fight to Apple and give their loyal fanbase a serious dilemma in choosing what pair of earbuds are right for them.”
I don’t think forcing such a direct comparison was the right move because, despite 1More claiming that it offers “so much more” than Apple’s flagship buds, the ComfoBuds Pro can’t match up with the AirPods Pro in all areas — as is expected with such a price discrepancy — but they’re still an excellent product in their own right. The sound is fantastic for the money, they have several useful noise cancellation modes to switch between, and the fit certainly delivers on the “comfort” part of their name.
The ComfoBuds come in either gunmetal gray or white, and they lay flat in their elongated, capsule-shaped carrying case. This makes for a compact, pocketable design, but the trade-off is that removing them from the case isn’t so simple: you’ve got to press down on the stem, which pushes up the main earbud portion, and then pluck that out of the case. Once you’ve done it a few times, you’ll have it down.
Removing the ComfoBuds Pro from the case takes a bit more effort than some other earbuds.
LEDs hidden at the bottom of the teardrop stem indicate pairing and charge status, and there’s also a light on the case’s exterior so you know when they’re fully topped off. Battery life is rated at 6 hours with ANC enabled, which outlasts the 4.5-hour AirPods Pro. The case has enough extra juice for you to reach 20 hours of total listening time. It charges over USB-C but doesn’t offer wireless charging.
1More also beats out Apple on the scale, with each ComfoBud Pro weighing 5.2 grams compared to the 5.4-gram AirPods Pro. In your ears, they feel similarly light and barely there. This results in comfort that lasts over extended stretches, which can’t always be said of heavier options like the Bose QuietComfort Earbuds (8.5 grams) and Jabra Elite 85t (7 grams). Four sets of silicone tips come in the box, with an extra small size thrown in alongside the standard small, medium, and large. I’d have appreciated an XL option, as even the largest size took some adjustment for a snug seal.
Instead of any actual buttons, the ComfoBuds Pro have a touch-sensitive area on the outer stem. It works well enough, even if it’s not obvious exactly where you should be tapping. The most confounding thing about 1More’s controls is there’s no single-tap action. You can choose what happens with a double tap, long press, or triple tap, but the single-press option — commonly used by other manufacturers to play / pause — just doesn’t exist here. So although 1More lets you customize the controls that are here, you’re a bit limited.
By default, two taps is pause, three activates a voice assistant, and a long press toggles between the noise-canceling modes. I ended up switching the three-tap gesture to track controls, but that meant settling for no direct volume access. Each earbud has an IR sensor on the outside for auto-pause if you remove them. They reliably resumed the music whenever I put them back in my ears.
1More has a good reputation for delivering on sound quality, and I think the ComfoBuds Pro might set a new bar for what to expect if you’re on a $100 budget. They’ve got excellent clarity without the bass bloat that’s common in this price bracket. Everything gets its ample space in the mix; the many layered vocal tracks by Taylor Swift and Justin Vernon on “Exile” are all distinct and come through with clarity. The funky groove of Lake Street Dive’s “Hypotheticals” is a good demo for the punchy bass these earbuds are capable of. Usually, there’s one genre or even a style of music production that will expose the weaknesses of a particular set of earbuds, but I struggled to find that with the ComfoBuds Pro. They can adapt to pretty much anything without coming off as harsh or thin. 1More doesn’t include any options for EQ customization, so what you get is what you get. Either earbud can be used standalone.
You control the ComfoBuds Pro with tap gestures on the stem.
But do they sound better than the AirPods Pro? You could make the case they do, yeah. I think some people will prefer the deeper low tones and how much wider 1More’s earbuds can feel; vocals stay planted in the center, but you’ll hear a ton of detail out of the left and right channels. Still, there’s something to be said for the no-nonsense, straightforward audio reproduction of the AirPods Pro that so many people find pleasing across all sorts of different audio. 1More’s pricier True Wireless ANC also sound a bit fuller and more precise since they have a dual-driver design compared to the single 13.4-millimeter driver in the ComfoBuds Pro.
These earbuds offer a few different levels of noise cancellation intensity. There’s the default “strong” option, which goes the furthest in quieting outside noise. But 1More also includes a less powerful mode it says is suitable for “chatty” environments like cafes and offices, plus another that’s meant to avoid wind noise, which is common with noise-canceling earbuds since they constantly use the exterior microphones to sample ambient sound. If you’re outside on a windy day, that could be a good trick to lean on. (These latter two modes require the 1More mobile app to activate.) Finally, there’s a full-on transparency mode for getting a clear sense of everything happening around you. 1More’s active noise cancellation worked pretty well when I was sitting outside at a Brooklyn coffee shop, but this is one area where the AirPods Pro pull ahead. They don’t have the same variety of modes, but Apple’s premium earbuds do a better overall job of bringing down the volume of the outside world, which is what’s most important.
The case is compact but lacks wireless charging.
Even so, all of these things make the ComfoBuds Pro a great value. But the AirPods Pro still rank above in several respects. First, the ComfoBuds Pro case doesn’t support wireless charging. Second, Apple’s transparency mode still sounds more natural and airy than 1More’s. And 1More can’t match the software flexes (automatic switching, spatial audio, seamless pairing, audio sharing, etc.) that exist between AirPods and other Apple devices. That’s a huge part of what makes them so popular. Again, we’re talking about quality-of-life conveniences that you’d rightfully expect from a $250 product. And these cost nowhere near that. But if 1More is going to make the comparison, the differences are worth pointing out. Despite putting a huge focus on voice mic performance, 1More also winds up behind the AirPods Pro there — as does everyone else. It’s a draw on sweat resistance, with both sets of earbuds rated IPX4.
1More has put together a fantastic pair of budget earbuds with the ComfoBuds Pro. I wish the company had focused on the sheer value you get in exchange for your $99 instead of trying to take down the AirPods Pro, which just isn’t realistic. Despite matching them on comfort and edging them out in other areas like battery life, there are still valid reasons why many iPhone owners will go right for Apple’s buds. It’s hard to put a price on those exclusive Apple ecosystem features and the superior noise cancellation. But if you’ve only got around $100 to put toward earbuds, the ComfoBuds Pro are a standout pair that won’t leave you missing much else. Only thing is, the AirPods are far from the only competition they’ll need to stand out from.
(Pocket-lint) – It’s safe to say OnePlus has been on something of a journey over the past few years. It lifted itself out of that initial ‘plucky upstart’ role and started to become a real smartphone company.
It’s gone from being a company that launched one or two new phones a year to launching six phones in 2020, with varying specs and at different price tiers. In 2021 that output glut looks set to continue – and it starts with the OnePlus 9.
Design
Dimensions: 160 x 74.2 x 8.7mm / Weight: 192 grams
Finish options: Winter Mist, Arctic Sky, Astral Black
3D Corning Gorilla Glass back
Dual stereo speakers
Look at the camera housing and you’ll see an evolution of design when you compare the OnePlus 9 to its most recent predecessors: the OnePlus 8T and OnePlus 8. The 9’s two main cameras have very deliberate metallic ring around them, while the camera housing has been designed to colour-match the rest of the phone’s rear panel.
It’s a classy and minimalist look, now with the addition of a Hasselblad logo. Because, yep, OnePlus is all about a camera partnership with this new series.
It’s in the rest of the build where we’ve seen OnePlus move backwards compared to its previous models though. The 9’s frame is made from a similar shiny plastic to what we first saw on the OnePlus Nord. Or, as OnePlus calls it: “fibreglass infused polymer”. Thankfully, the back is covered in Corning Gorilla Glass for protection.
It’s not the slimmest or lightest phone around either, certainly feeling thicker than previous models, but that’s almost certainly down to the move towards a flat screen. Rather than have those curved edges on both sides of the phone, it only has them on one side, so you lose that more sleek effect. Still, the OnePlus 9 feels noticeably chunkier than the 8T – another flat-screened model – which was thicker than the OnePlus 8 before it.
Of course, there are real benefits to having a flatter screen. There’s very little chance you’ll suffer from accidental touches, because it doesn’t curve around the edges, so that makes the phone a bit easier to use.
Our own review unit is the Winter Mist model, which has a light purple colour, with the rear featuring a gradient refraction effect. That means the bottom part of the phone is really glossy and reflective, but the top is more frosted and gradients between these two finishes. We think some people will like it, but we prefer the softer fully frosted look of some of the blue Arctic Sky model. It’s also a bit of a fingerprint magnet, which diminishes the overall finish effect.
There are all the usual OnePlus buttons and ports though. That means the volume rocker is within easy reach on the left side, with the alert slider switch on the right near the power/sleep button. The dual nano SIM tray is on the bottom edge near the USB-C port and the bottom-firing loudspeaker – which joins with a speaker near the earpiece to form stereo sound that’s boosted by Dolby Atmos tech.
Display
6.55-inch AMOLED panel
Full HD+ resolution (2400 x 1080 pixels; 402ppi)
120Hz refresh rate
OnePlus has focused on having lightweight and fast software for years. Its latest iteration of Oxygen OS is no different, and the display is primed and ready to take full advantage of that fluidity too.
Pocket-lint
The AMOLED screen on the front of the OnePlus 9 isn’t quite as sharp as that of the 9 Pro, but with a pixel density over 400 pixels-per-inch it should be sharp enough for most content you’d want to watch.
What’s more, with a refresh rate peak of 120Hz, it can keep up with any fast frame-rate gaming. OnePlus says it has improved the colour accuracy and the automatic brightness adjustment too – the result of adding in two ambient light sensors, while the brightness has more than 8000 different levels to enable smoother adjustment.
Like Apple’s True Tone, there’s a Comfort Tone feature that adjusts the colour temperature of the display to match your environment, which should be handy when reading ebooks on a white screen, making it seem a bit more like a paper surface.
Brightness itself shouldn’t be a problem either. With a peak of up to 1100nits and HDR10+ certification you should find a very attractive, vivid and bright panel. Of course, we need a bit more time to test it thoroughly, but all early indicators are good.
Hardware and performance
Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 platform
128GB/256GB UFS 3.1 storage
8GB/12GB LPDDR5 RAM
4,500mAh battery capacity
Warp Charge 65W charging
15W Qi wireless charging
With a top OnePlus flagship you know one thing for certain: you’ll always get the latest, most powerful mobile processor. That means the Snapdragon 888 platform for the 9 series, along with suitably quick LPDDR5 RAM and UFS 3.1 storage.
What that means in daily use is that, not only will your apps and games load quickly, but any downloads and installs will be fast too. That’s helped further by 5G support, presuming you’re in an area with 5G coverage, for speedy and low-latency connectivity.
All this power needs cooling for efficiency. For the OnePlus 9 there’s something called the OnePlus Cool Play system. Essentially, the manufacturer has made the vapour chambers larger and added more layers of graphite and copper to dissipate heat when you’re powering your most demanding games.
We’ve not yet experienced a OnePlus phone that under-delivers on speed and performance, so we don’t expect the OnePlus 9 will be any different. Our first few days of use have been pretty much plain sailing.
Regarding the battery and it’s really the charging that sells this phone. You may remember OnePlus saying in the past that it didn’t want to use wireless charging until it was as fast and convenient as its fast wired system. Well, for the non-Pro model in the OnePlus 9 family, it turns out it’s forgotten all about that.
The regular OnePlus 9 does have wireless charging, but it’s not blindingly fast. Instead, it uses a fairly standard 15W Qi-compatible wireless charging. That means it’s nowhere near as quick as the new Warp Charge 65T wired charging capability which can keep those 65W speeds pumping for longer and give you a full charge in under 30 minutes.
Cameras
Triple camera system with Hasselblad tuning:
Main: 48-megapixel, f/1.8 aperture, Sony IMX689 sensor
Ultra-wide: 50MP, f/2.2, SonyIMX766 sensor
Mono: 2MP
Front-facing camera: 16-megapixel
Video: 8K30p / 4K120p
OnePlus has listened to its critics over the past few years and says it’s finally delivering a flagship level camera experience. That’s thanks in part to its new collaboration with Hasselblad, to help tune the image processing to strict standards, ensuring your pictures should come out looking great.
It’s not just that tuning that’s changed though. The regular OnePlus 9 features the same main camera sensor found in the OnePlus 8 Pro from 2020, and has the same sensor in the ultra-wide as found in the excellent (and more expensive) Oppo Find X3 Pro.
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Those two are joined by a low-res monochrome sensor for extra light detail, but that’s it. No macro lens or gimmicky chroma filter camera in sight this time.
What’s more, the video recording capability can reach the heights of 8K resolution at 30fps or – perhaps more impressively – can capture 4K up to 120fps, which should enable some fantastically sharp slow-motion video.
Hasselblad’s partnership has led to some other more inconsequential features, like the orange colour of the shutter button, and a leaf shutter sound when you press it. However, where you’ll see the biggest influence is in the ‘Pro’ camera mode.
Pocket-lint
The user interface has been designed to look like one developed by Hasselblad for some of its cameras. This includes a focus peaking feature that will highlight in-focus areas in orange when you’re using the manual focus.
First Impressions
The OnePlus 9 design may not have wowed us that much, but this company knows its users are all about getting the best performance out of every area of its phones.
So if cutting corners and adding in a plastic frame means being able to stick two flagship cameras on the back, add wireless charging, a capacious battery, and market-leading speed, then we think that’s a compromise worth making.
We can’t quite get out of our heads that the OnePlus 9 is similar to the much cheaper Nord in some respects, and that might still be worth considering, but on the whole – from the spec conscious – this latest OnePlus looks like it will deliver an experience much closer to its Pro-labelled sibling this year.
Also consider
Pocket-lint
OnePlus Nord
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If you’re all about price then the last-gen affordable OnePlus model is a sensible option.
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There are a lot of topics, both serious and fun, that are out there to be covered by The Verge, and it falls on our news writers to cover them: from coronavirus and space exploration to YouTube and Super Nintendo World. Mitchell Clark is one of those writers; among other articles, he wrote one of the best explanations you can find of what exactly NFTs are. We took a look (remotely via photos) of Mitchell’s desk and asked him some questions about his stuff.
Tell me a little about yourself. What is your background, and what do you do at The Verge?
Like Jay, I’m a news writer, tasked with keeping The Verge’s readers up to date with news about pretty much anything you could think of. Lately, it’s been a lot of NFTs, but it’s really just a grab bag every day I come into work, which keeps it exciting.
I also literally just got here — I started in December. I previously did a little of everything, from slinging fast-food chicken fingers, professionally fixing people’s phone problems, and doing training, testing, and coding for software the government uses. Basically, pretty much anything not related to my degree in video production.
Photo by Mitchell Clark / The Verge
How did you decide where and how to set up your workspace?
I live in a relatively small and cheap city, so I’m luxuriating in a two-bedroom apartment. I’ve worked at home ever since we moved here in 2017, so as soon as we got all the moving boxes out of the second room, I claimed it as my office. As for where the desk is: it used to be up against the window, but the sun kept getting in my eyes, so I moved it against the wall instead.
Tell me a little about the desk itself.
It’s called the iMovR Energize, and it’s a motorized standing desk. And yes, I do actually work standing up a lot. I don’t often work sitting at it, though — the cat is banned from the office, but if I’m in here he’ll sit outside the door and scream. So if I’m going to work sitting down, I do it on the couch so he doesn’t guilt-trip me.
Half of the reason why I chose the Energize was because it’s ostensibly made in the US, and the other half is that there are almost no reviews of it, and I wanted to do one and have it stand out. As far as I can tell, I’m still the only person who’s done a video review of it on YouTube, the TL;DR of which is that it’s a good desk. If it lasts for 10 years, it may actually be worth the almost $1,000 price tag.
I think that’s the simplest desk chair I’ve seen so far.
Yeahhhh, it’s an Ikea Trollberget. I went with it over an office chair in the optimistic hope that it would help me not slouch so much. The seat part of it tilts back and forth, so it really requires some core strength to sit up straight, which is great when I actually do that, but honestly I usually just put my elbows on the desk and curve my body into some horrible “S” shape. If I lived somewhere I could find a used Herman Miller, I’d probably give one of those a try.
Tell us a bit about your audio setup. It looks like you’ve put considerable thought into it.
Yes, I have. It’s a Shure Beta 87A microphone, mounted on a Heil PL2T arm and connected to a Focusrite Scarlett 2i4 audio interface. The headphones are the Beyerdynamic DT 770 Pro 80 ohms, which aren’t super fun for music (hence the fifth-gen iPod with KZ ES4 earbuds) but are great for accurately reproducing vocals.
The whole setup is optimized for one thing: making sure that my voice is as clear and echo-free as possible. I was tired of having to go into a cave of blankets to record voiceovers, so I got a microphone with a very narrow (supercardioid) pickup pattern, and it works great. I also sometimes use it as an improvised video mic, for which it’s only okay. Usually, it just makes me sound really great on Zoom calls (and lets me pretend I’m going to make more episodes of a podcast I made three episodes of and then gave up on).
Okay, now it’s time to talk about your other tech: your computer, display setup, and other tech stuff.
Alright! My computer is a 13-inch M1 Macbook Pro — I went with the Pro over the Air mainly for the brighter screen. When I’m working from my desk and not the couch, I plonk that on a Twelve South Curve stand, and plug it in to a… *checks B&H order history* Dell U2415 24-inch monitor.
It’s 16:10, which is nice, but unfortunately it’s got a 1920 x 1200 resolution. I seem to be especially sensitive to low resolutions (I can immediately tell the difference between YouTube at 1080p and 720p on my iPhone Mini), so my next big upgrade may be to LG’s 24-inch UltraFine 4K (if I can find one used).
I switch between a Magic Trackpad and Logitech G502 Hero for my mousing needs. Changing which device and hand I use helps stave off wrist pain, and I’ve discovered that any mouse without Logitech’s ratcheting / free-spinning scroll wheel is almost unusable for me. For my keyboard, I use the peculiarly named Ducky One 2 with Cherry MX Browns. The main theme is wired: I’ve always run into weird, annoying issues with Bluetooth keyboards and mice.
The final Big Thing on my desk is an OWC ThunderBay 4. Being into video production and photography (Fujifilm X-T3 for digital, Nikon F3HP for film, by the way), I accumulate a lot of absolutelymassive files: I’ve currently got 11TB of data spread out across 17TB of drives.
You mentioned that you had a bit of a cable issue.
Yeah, I just up (down? side-to-side?)-graded from an iMac Pro, which had just enough ports to plug in my five bajillion peripherals. Now my computer has two ports, so I have an absolute nightmare of a situation.
Here’s my current setup: I connect my laptop with Thunderbolt to the ThunderBay 4. Somehow that provides enough power to trickle-charge the laptop, and provides a Thunderbolt pass-through, which I currently have a USB-C Satechi Clamp Hub Pro plugged into. Plugged into that are my mouse and keyboard, and my monitor’s built-in USB hub, which has even more devices plugged into it (notably the scanner and Scarlett). Then I use my laptop’s second Thunderbolt port to plug in the monitor (good thing the ThunderBay can charge the computer, I’m out of ports).
I’ve got an OWC Thunderbolt 4 Dock on preorder to save me from this triple-hub chain nightmare, but until then, I’ve just got a mess of wires and am hoping nothing breaks.
I see your keyboard is right near your desk. Do you ever take a break to make some music?
I can’t actually play piano to be honest, even though I’ve literally had this keyboard since I was seven years old. I do have it hooked up to my computer through the Scarlett’s MIDI interface, so sometimes if I find a really cool-sounding synth in Logic, I’ll mash at the keyboard until I get something that sounds good. Its main job, though, is to sit there, guilting me until I actually learn even a drop of music theory.
Looks like a great setup for storing your bikes, but I’d be nervous about crashing into them if I push my chair back too hard…
I’d never even thought about that, but thankfully my chair doesn’t have wheels so I’d really have to try for it. The biggest risk with the bikes is that I’ll look out my window, see the paved trail that runs right outside it (and keeps going for 100 miles into a different state), and not be able to resist the temptation to take a ride!
For any other apartment-dwellers, the bike stand is probably a great option: it’s made by a company called Delta Design. I bought mine at Costco, but as always when I find something I like there, it’s no longer available. Amazon still sells it, and REI has a nicer-looking version, too.
Tell us a bit about your decorations: the great collection you’ve got on your bulletin board, the sculptures on your windowsill, etc.
I always want to have things that, as Marie Kondo would put it, spark joy around me while I’m working. So, I try to decorate with things made by creators or friends, or with art that is associated with some sort of memory. Some of the pins are from webcomics or podcasts that I enjoy, some are from Etsy, and the vintage and Michigan-related ones I got from my grandma, who apparently collected them. I’m on the record as absolutely loving Kentucky Route Zero, so I figured I’d get a poster of it, too.
The coolest story, though, goes with the metal bonsai trees. I did karate for about 10 years (and have missed doing it for six), and my sensei had a friend who would make the trees by hand. He’d give them out every year as awards for people who exemplified certain qualities of the Shotokan dojo kun. I don’t remember which I got them for, but they’re good reminders of some pretty good rules.
What’s on the shelving beneath the bulletin board?
A little bit of everything! There’s an Epson Perfection V550 scanner, which I use for everything from the mundane (scanning documents and birthday / holiday cards) to the exciting only to me (scanning all the film negatives I’ve developed). I also keep all my camera gear there, with one of the drawers having a mishmash of GoPro accessories, a Rode VideoMic Go, Zoom H5, and other video gear. The other drawer has “ancient media” like VHS tapes, cassette tapes, and vinyl records.
Oh, and there’s a label maker, which I’m pretty sure doesn’t have any tape left.
Finally — do you often hide under your desk?
Only in the summer, when it’s hot and I need to get out of the sunlight! But I do work from the floor a lot, either just sitting on it or laying down. I’ve been told it’s weird (usually by my wife, who comes home and finds me laying on the floor, with the cat having sprawled himself across my legs), but it works for me.
OnePlus has released its new batch of phones, the OnePlus 9 and the 9 Pro. As is the tradition with OnePlus, the phones are equipped with the latest high-end Snapdragon chips and are priced lower than most of the competition.
Both phones also include charging features that Apple and Samsung don’t match: they wirelessly charge at a super-fast 50W and can charge at 65W over wired charging. They also both have Hasselblad’s camera tuning and software.
The OnePlus 9 and 9 Pro are very similar, but there are a few differences to watch out for:
The Pro has a bigger screen
The Pro includes a telephoto camera and mmWave 5G
The unlocked and T-Mobile versions of the Pro have IP68 certification — only the T-Mobile version of the regular phone is IP68 certified
The Pro includes “Hyper Touch” where it polls for finger input at 360Hz
At retail prices, the regular OnePlus 9 is $70 cheaper than Samsung’s regular Galaxy S21 and $100 cheaper than the iPhone 12. Both of those phones include mmWave and IP68 water resistance. But if those aren’t features you care about, it may be worth the savings to you.
The 9 Pro can’t quite match the all-out specs and features of the Galaxy S21 Ultra, but it’s also priced well below it, too. For fun, we also threw in Oppo’s latest flagship phone, which isn’t available for purchase in the US but is pretty similar to the Pro.
OnePlus has announced the first two phones in its OnePlus 9-series, the OnePlus 9 and OnePlus 9 Pro. As expected, the OnePlus 9 Pro is the flagship, designed to face off against the likes of Samsung’s Galaxy S21 Ultra and the iPhone 12 Pro Max, while the OnePlus 9 is its lower-specced and slightly more affordable counterpart.
Thanks to OnePlus’ habit of pre-announcing many of the flagship specs of its devices, we already knew a lot about both phones going into this event. The Pro has a 120Hz display that makes use of LPTO technology to adjust its refresh rate based on the content being displayed on-screen, and it can charge at 50W wirelessly or 65W over a wired connection (the regular 9 is limited to just 15W wireless charging). Both the 9 and the 9 Pro are powered by this year’s flagship Snapdragon 888 processor and feature a Hasselblad-branded rear camera array.
Developing… we’re updating this post in real time with more information from the OnePlus event.
A startup called Spatial is unveiling its first suite of products today, focused on creating audio experiences that are immersive, interactive, and automatically generated. The products themselves are a little complicated to explain, but the result is simple: ambient and interactive audio for public spaces that’s easy to create and more dynamic than the usual tracks.
Although Spatial has a consumer offering, the most likely customers are going to be businesses. Think hotels that want a different audio experience in their lobby, theme parks that want to develop audio for their spaces faster, brand activations, or AR experiences (National Geographic is an investor). Think about how corny the canned audio at the zoo often is; Spatial wants to fix that.
In one demo a couple of weeks ago, I sat in a room and heard the sounds of a forest all around me, with birds chirping in one spot and then moving to another — until a dragon flew overhead and scared them all away for a little while.
That’s frankly nothing special: audio positioned in space is simple. What’s complex is the engine that created all of that audio. Spatial’s goal is to make designing custom sound for a space easy and also to make that sound happen generatively instead of on a loop or a track. There are three main pieces to it.
First, there’s Spatial Studio, a Mac app that’s a sort of unholy melding of Logic and Unreal Engine. It defines a 3D space where users can place audio objects – either sounds they’ve created themselves or pulled from Spatial’s library. Users can even pipe in live audio as an object – say, if they want to bring the sound of the nearby ocean up into the lobby or just run a Sonos stream.
What’s special about Spatial is that those audio objects have behaviors. A bird might move along a predetermined track (with some randomness so it doesn’t get boring) or an ocean tide might appear at certain times of day, for example. Those audio objects might also react — either to each other or to something that happens in the real space.
The second part of Spatial’s system is turning all those dynamic audio objects into actual sound that you can hear in a space. For that, it uses Mac minis (or, for corporate customers, Linux) to run a real-time audio engine called Spatial Reality. It will take inputs from various sensors if need be, or simply let the little audio world run its course — and since the things in that little audio world have different behaviors, it will sound different all of the time. Spatial has also created an iPhone app for more direct interaction.
You’d think the third part is the speakers, but that’s actually Spatial’s third trick: it can work with any speaker setup. Spatial’s engine serves as an abstraction layer that is aware of the speakers’ position in the room and automatically adjusts the sound to ensure correct 3D positioning of the audio. Instead of a strict set of placement rules, Spatial can work with what you’ve got.
Michael Plitkins, one of the cofounders, tells me that fundamentally he believes that laying down audio on a static track is backwards. It’s better, he says, to let the computers figure it out in real time based on what they know about the speaker system. As the product stands right now, Spatial isn’t bothering with any real-time tuning to the audio in the room. It will work with any speaker setup, but users will need to program in what they have in the Spatial Studio app.
At the start, Spatial’s main competition is some combination of Muzak for public spaces and whatever custom tools Disney Imagineers use for the audio in their theme parks. It may appeal to some hobbyists too — part of the inspiration for the company was Plitkins’ desire to create a soundscape in his own back yard. I had a demo of that space too, complete with cave sounds under the deck so authentic it was eerie.
Whomever the customers end up being, it probably won’t be an easy sell. (And launching a product meant mainly for public spaces while a pandemic is still on is another challenge.) Dynamically created rain and birdsong doesn’t sound any different from a static audio track if you only listen for a couple minutes.
But during a long interview in a conference room where the team explained the ins and outs of their product, they turned off the cabin in the woods-themed audio that had been gently playing the whole time. The silence was weirdly stressful, the way conference rooms usually are.
There’s a new iPad on the way. Or, rather, four to be exact.
Apple is said to be about to launch a new iPad Pro next month. While most range refreshes include minor tweaks, this one should bring some major new screen technology into play – and it’s tech that could really improve the user experience.
Not only that, but Apple is also thought to be working on a new iPad Mini that’s bigger than the current model, as well as a refresh to the standard iPad; both of those should launch this year. Add them to the two different-sized Pro models, and that makes four new iPads in the pipeline.
Excited? You should be. Here’s why.
Check out the current range: Best iPads: big, small, budget and premium
Apple iPad Pro 2021: release date
The next iPad Pro refresh could happen very soon indeed. That’s according to Bloomberg, which carried a report recently detailing the new models.
Its sources say that the new Pro models will launch in April. There’s no firm date set, and Apple is yet to announce any events for the coming weeks. But it usually gives at least two weeks’ notice, so expect a mid-April launch at the earliest.
Once they have been announced, however, the new iPads could go on sale just days later, or even immediately.
This would be the fifth generation of iPad Pro. The current model launched last March, a year ago almost to the day. But a spring launch isn’t a given for iPad Pros. The third generation launched in October 2018, while the second gen landed in June 2017. The first model was announced in September 2015 and launched in November of the same year. Fingers crossed it becomes a new spring regular.
OS agnostic? Read our guide to the best tablets covering both iOS and Android
iPad Pro 2021: price
(Image credit: Apple)
The iPad Pro is the daddy of the iPad family, a stylus-equipped tablet that’s superpowered for work and play. Want the best games? The crispest movies? Need it for work, be it illustrating, animating, video editing or music production? It’s the tablet for you.
Of course, all this power doesn’t come cheap. Here’s how the current Pro models stack up.
iPad Pro 11in: from £769 ($799, AU$1329)
iPad Pro 12.9in: from £969 ($999, AU$1649)
With all that natty new screen tech at hand to go with all the usual improvements, we can’t see Apple dropping the price of the new models. Expect them to be in keeping with the current price tags.
iPad Pro 2021: screen
(Image credit: Apple)
We’re expecting two new models of iPad Pro, in the same sizes as the current models (11in and 12.9in). And it’s the bigger of the two that’s really got our attention.
That’s because it is said to boast a Mini LED screen. Like OLED, this technology is used in TVs, but it has better contrast ratios than the current Pro’s OLED panel. It is also less susceptible to burn-in, so if you accidentally leave your tablet on YouTube over the weekend you won’t have to worry about the logo being forever etched in the screen.
We don’t have only Bloomberg‘s word for it. Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo said back in 2019 that he expected Apple to start using Mini LED screens in its tablets and laptops. He even predicted that Apple would launch the tech in the 12.9in iPad Pro. When two such reputable sources say the same thing, the odds are that it’s true.
Mini LED has a lot going for it. It’s pitched as a more affordable version of OLED, though it works similarly to LCD tech. Essentially, the LEDs on a Mini LED panel’s backlight are much, much smaller than those used on a traditional LCD screen – and therefore there are a great many more of them; we’re talking tens of thousands rather than tens of hundreds. The idea is that the more LEDs used, the greater control the device has over over local dimming – i.e. how bright or dim parts of the screen can go. Theoretically as a result, Mini LEDs can produce pictures with better contrast, pictures with more precise shading and, in turn, better colour reproduction than your average LCD screen.
With a backlight, Mini LED TVs can reach a higher peak brightness than an OLED screen is capable of, and as there is greater control over what portions of the screen are dark it’s easier to achieve deeper blacks. That said, as there is still a backlight in the mix and the LEDs can’t turn completely off, as the self-emissive diodes in OLEDs can, it’s doubtful they’ll be able to produce quite the lights-off blacks that OLEDs can.
Still, we can’t wait to see the technology in action on an iPad. And it sounds as though we won’t have to, for long.
iPad Pro 2021: design
While the screen may be all new, it doesn’t sound as if the design of the device will change much, if at all. According to Bloomberg‘s report, the new Pro models will look similar to the current models. But that’s no bad thing.
The current iPad Pro, after all, is about as sleek as tablets come. Thanks to its narrow bezel, it’s basically all screen, making movies, games and TV shows all the more immersive. Sticking to this design will only serve to better show off the new screen tech, too – when the device is all screen, it really enhances those popping colours and sharply defined edges.
The current models are super slim and light, too. The 11in model sizes up at 24.7 x 17.8 x 0.6cm, while the 12.9in version comes in at 28 x 21.5 x 0.6cm. The smaller model weighs 473g, while the larger tips the scales at 643g – that’s lighter than a squeezy bottle of ketchup.
Unlike some other tablets, the Pro features speakers on both its top and bottom. This means that, when watching a film with the tablet in landscape orientation, you benefit from stereo sound, in contrast to those tablets with speakers in only one place.
The Pro also features a USB-C connection, but the new models have reportedly been tested with Apple’s Thunderbolt connectors. It’s not clear at this point whether they will ship with Thunderbolt or USB-C.
Apple is also reportedly testing its MagSafe connector for laptops. MagSafe is a magnetic connector – because it connects using magnets, the connection breaks if the cable is yanked out, and your device won’t tumble to the floor (say if someone trips over the cable). It was first used in Apple’s laptops, but recently made a return in the iPhone 12 as a way of snapping on accessories. With Apple mulling over MagSafe for MacBooks, could the next iPads also use it?
iPad Pro 2021: specs
(Image credit: Apple)
While the new iPad Pros might look almost identical to the current models, they should be much more powerful. So powerful, in fact, that performance should reportedly be “on a par” with Apple’s M1 MacBook Airs, MacBook Pros and Max Mini.
These M1 devices are the first to feature Apple’s own processors. That’s because last year the firm stopped using Intel chips in favour of its own, homegrown ones, known as Apple silicon. With Apple making both the hardware and software, it is able to optimise performance – these chips are made specifically for Apple devices, after all, as opposed to off-the-shelf processors that power all manner of desktops, laptops and tablets.
Reviews have praised Apple silicon devices, due to their notably improved performance. They have also shown big improvements in battery life.
For example, the latest Apple MacBook Air boasts up to 15 hours of wireless web performance, and up to 18 hours of movie streaming via the Apple TV app. The current iPad Pros manage only about 10 hours of power before needing a recharge, so it’s quite possible that the new models will see a significant battery bump.
The new Pros are also said to have new cameras, but here details are a bit thin on the ground.
Tablets’ cameras are usually a bit of an afterthought; but not on the Pro. This is a device built for creative professionals, after all, and imaging technology is likely to be high on their priority list. It has two rear cameras (a 12MP wide-angle lens, and a 10MP ultra-wide), with 2x optical zoom and 5x digital zoom. It also allows for 4K video recording at 24fps, 30fps or 60fps, 1080p HD video recording at 30fps or 60fps, and 720p HD video recording at 30fps.
The 7MP front-facing camera also has 1080p HD video recording at 30fps or 60fps.
Any upgrade on these would be most welcome, especially to the filmmakers eyeing up a new tablet to help make their movies.
Other new iPads for 2021
(Image credit: Apple)
As we said, the new Pros aren’t the only iPads in the Apple pipeline. The firm is also reportedly working on a new iPad Mini and a refresh of the standard iPad.
The Mini should have a slightly larger screen than the current 7.9in iPad Mini. This follows the trend in mobiles, which has been for bigger screens in recent years. Though it would still carry the Mini moniker, so don’t expect it to supersize anytime soon.
The standard iPad will reportedly be slimmer and lighter than the current model. The current iPad measures 25 x 17 x 0.7cm, so cutting down these dimensions will be no mean feat.
Expect minor spec bumps for these two devices, too.
Both of these iPads are expected to launch later in the year, possibly around September. That would be a year on from the last iPad range refresh. It’s also when we’re expecting the new iPhone 13. Could be a busy month.
MORE:
Read our in-depth Apple iPad (2020) review
Find the perfect Apple tablet for you: the best iPads 2021
Apple’s first over-ear headphones rated: read our AirPods Max review
Everything we know so far about the rumoured AirPods 3
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Apple’s AirPods Max just might have ushered in a new norm of $500-plus wireless headphones. My argument in support of this? V-Moda’s new M-200 ANC headphones, which sell for $499.99 and, as the name makes obvious, are the company’s first headphones to include active noise cancellation. V-Moda is a company that’s well-known in the DJ world, and prior headphones like the original M100s and Crossfade 2 Wireless have earned it some fans in the audiophile crowd. With the M-200 ANCs, V-Moda is trying to compete in a higher price bracket than ever before — but the results are a little uneven.
If there’s one thing that V-Moda has never wavered on, it’s durability. Like past models, the M-200 ANC headphones feel phenomenally strong and reassuring no matter how harshly you handle them. These things are built like tanks. My old pair of M100s must be at least seven or eight years old at this point, but the folding joints and other core hardware have never given out — even long after the headband material has started to wear and show its age. I still use ‘em as a gaming headset with V-Moda’s add-on boom mic.
I think it’s fair to question whether this is the same V-Moda that it used to be; before the company was sold to Roland, I’d regularly sit down with founder Val Kolton, who seemed to hold the brand to an obsessive level of quality assurance. But so far, I don’t see any reason to question the robustness of these new headphones.
The M-200 ANCs stick with the usual V-Moda aesthetic: it’s mostly a mix of metal and artificial leather. They also still fold down into the company’s signature carrying case. However, the size of the shield plates on each ear cup has changed. So if you’ve got old, customized plates, those will no longer fit. The ear pads (filled with memory foam) now attach magnetically and feel nice and cushiony. It used to be that you had to buy V-Moda’s aftermarket “XL” earpads for the best extended comfort, but not so this time around. I’m also glad they’re so easy to replace. Magnets!
There are buttons at the top of the right ear cup for play / pause and volume controls, and this is where the M-200 ANCs start to betray their asking price. The buttons are mushy, which I can understand since that means they don’t click loudly as you’re listening to music. It can still feel a bit cheap. Aside from this, their location so far at the top can make them awkward to reach when you’re actually wearing the headphones. Maybe it’s just my enormous head, but I struggled at times. The buttons at the bottom for power and noise cancellation are much simpler to reach (and for some reason, they’re clickier, too).
Out of the box with EQ settings left untouched, the M-200 ANCs have an extremely neutral sound profile. I don’t know that I’d call them reference studio monitors, but they’re very flat. This can make for a jarring change if you’re switching over from other headphones like the AirPods Max or Sennheiser’s Momentum Wireless cans, which try to show you everything they’re sonically worth right off the bat without any adjustments. In this case, you’ll want to immediately explore the EQ presets (V-Moda’s app lets you take full manual control) to find something that sounds the best to you. Even if you crank the low-frequency sliders, the M-200 ANCs won’t rattle your brain. But you can get them to a point where EDM and hip-hop don’t underwhelm, which they can if you stick with the default, balanced EQ.
When you do take the time to nail the EQ, the M-200 ANCs sound very good. V-Moda downsized to 40-millimeter drivers (from 50mm in the original M-200), but these headphones do a terrific job of preserving the mids through all sorts of EQ adjustments. “$500 noise-canceling headphones with neutral sound” strikes me as an odd zone to be playing in, but V-Moda can certainly paint itself as a standout here. They support aptX HD, aptX, AAC, and SBC Bluetooth codecs, so they’re well-rounded for wireless audio. I also tested them wired with my Apple Lossless files and streaming Amazon Music HD, and the M-200 ANCs proved wonderfully layered and rich. (They don’t seem to pass audio over USB-C, unfortunately, so that port is just for charging.)
I’ve noticed that V-Moda’s app can be buggy; sometimes it’ll display a spinning loading indicator that never goes anywhere. The M-200 ANCs have also given me “iPhone can no longer connect to this device” errors, which required me to pair the headphones all over again. Roland needs to put more work into its software. Most frustrating of all is that the M-200 ANCs can only store two paired devices in memory. If you add a third, the first one will be overwritten. Want to switch between a phone, tablet, and PC without much fuss? Sorry.
The M-200 ANC ear pads attach to the headphones magnetically. Underneath them are these 40mm drivers.
These headphones don’t have a dedicated transparency mode that you can toggle on for hearing outside noise. But V-Moda did blatantly steal a trick from Sony: you can hold a hand on the left ear cup, the music will drop in volume, and ambient noise will be piped in using the built-in microphones. Once you remove your hand, your music volume and ANC return to normal. That’s a useful feature for quick interactions or listening to an announcement at an airport or on a train, but at $500, I would’ve liked to see some way of keeping transparency mode enabled for as long as desired — no arm-lifting required.
The M-200 ANCs lack sensors for detecting when they’ve been removed from your ears, so they won’t pause audio automatically like other premium noise-canceling headphones. Again, for $500, those extra convenience tricks should be part of the experience. Another would be multipoint Bluetooth pairing, which these headphones don’t give you either. Battery life is rated at 20 hours, which is on par with Bose and Apple but short of Sony.
V-Moda is new to noise cancellation, and it shows. The M-200 ANCs can’t rise to the level of the AirPods Max or even lower-priced options like Sony’s 1000XM4s or the Bose Noise Canceling Headphones 700. They’ll cut out a lot of lower-frequency noise, but the overall effect isn’t quite on the level of competitors. The V-Moda app lets you choose between 10 levels of noise cancellation, but even fully dialed up, I never quite felt like I was in that personal bubble of silence that the best ANC headphones provide. On the positive side, V-Moda’s noise cancellation didn’t result in any discomfort, nor did it noticeably alter the sound, which can happen with some headphones.
Who will be next to join the $500 noise-canceling headphones squad?
Along with the headphones and case, V-Moda includes a 3.5-millimeter cable, USB-C charging cable, and an airplane adapter. I really wish the company had bundled its BoomPro microphone — sold separately for $35 — right in the box with the M-200 ANCs. It feels like a missed opportunity, as the BoomPro is truly a great accessory for gaming and Zoom calls. Keep in mind that Apple didn’t even include a headphone cable with the AirPods Max, so I can’t knock V-Moda too hard, but this would’ve been a prime moment to give customers that bonus. It also would’ve helped boost the M-200 ANCs at voice call performance. As is, the built-in microphones are nothing special, and callers might find it difficult to hear you in loud or windy environments.
I genuinely wonder if V-Moda would have priced these things at $500 in a world without the AirPods Max. With Apple’s cans set aside, you’d be looking at an upper echelon of Bluetooth headphones with options like the Bowers & Wilkins PX7 and Sennheiser Momentum 3 that tops out around $400. (No, I haven’t forgotten about those $800 Beoplay H95s, but come on.) The M-200 ANCs are a solid pair of wireless headphones, and they maintain V-Moda’s fantastic build quality. But it’s impossible to overlook what’s missing when a company is asking for this much cash. The balanced sound signature will be a definite win for people who are explicitly looking for that. But these really needed to have a true transparency mode and better ANC to keep up with the pack and to warrant the significant investment.
The consumer protection agency in Brazil’s São Paulo state has fined Apple $2 million for failing to include chargers within iPhone 12 boxes, according to 9to5 Mac. Procon-SP says Apple engaged in “misleading advertising, selling a device without the charger and unfair terms.”
Apple announced in October that the iPhone 12 and would not come with chargers or earbuds in their boxes, citing environmental concerns. By only including a USB-C to Lightning cable with iPhone 12 and other new models, Apple said it would be able to reduce the raw materials for each iPhone it sells, in addition to reducing the size of the phones’ boxes. Critics suggested the change had more to do with allowing Apple to reduce shipping costs, and environmental experts said the impact on the environment would likely be minimal.
Procon said it asked Apple whether the company would reduce the iPhone 12’s price since there were no chargers included, and did not receive a response. The agency also accused the company of failing to help customers who had “problems with some functions” on their iPhones following updates. A spokesman for the agency said Apple “needs to respect these laws and these institutions.”
The fine does not seem like it would be particularly troubling for Apple, which had $111.4 billion in revenue in the first quarter of 2021 (that total includes 2020 holiday sales of iPhone 12 models).
Apple did not immediately reply to a request for comment Saturday from The Verge.
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